...evening shadows...

the sun

made it to

my home

one

day

this week.

warmth on my face,

the smell of fall...

of fallen leaves

and

these

shadows

boldly

stood

out

once i looked their way.

a

simple clothespin.

the

evening sun.

a

shadow.

i was on top of the world.

happy and content.

because it was simple.

it's just that simple...

just BE.

robin.

there are many folks

who are happy because of a shadow...

check them out at

Hey Harriet

may you have the time to enjoy something simple today...

...c.a.t...

i

love

cats

because

i

enjoy

my

home;

and little by little

they

become

its

invisible

soul.

~jean cocteau

just BE.

robin.

...photo op...

If you are patient in a moment of anger, you will escape a hindred days of sorrow.

just BE.

robin.

...10.25.09...

...Fall colors-click photos to enlarge...

weekend unplugged.

nature's colors untouched.

you see it how i see it.

fall beauty

captured.

in

one

still

frame.

slowly

letting

go

one

still frame

at

a time.

and she takes

a sip of coffee.

takes a deep breath.

smiles.

and takes a picture.

welcome to coffee hour.

welcome to this Sunday morning.

just BE.

robin.

...shadows and souls...

"What we see isn't in things, but in our souls."~ Salvador Dali

with rain continued today

i will use a photo

from last weekend.

catch the shadows when you can right.

jump on the shadow bandwagon

at HEY HARRIET

have a wonderful sss everyone!!

may your soul, today...

just BE.

robin.

...it's friday...

even

tho

it's

gray,

rainy,

cold,

gloomy...

TGIF!!!!

enjoy your friday evening...

just BE.

robin.

...happiness-something you decide on ahead of time...

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man,

who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock,

with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly,

even though he is legally blind,

moved to a nursing home today.

His wife of 70 years recently passed away,

making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home,

he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator,

I provided a visual description of his tiny room,

including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

'I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old

having just been presented with a new puppy.

'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.'

'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied.

Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.

Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ...

it's how I arrange my mind.

I already decided to love it.

'It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up.

I have a choice;

I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty

I have with the parts of my body that no longer work,

or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift,

and as long as my eyes open,

I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away...

Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account.

You withdraw from what you've put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank.

I am still depositing.

'Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.

i love this!!

just BE.

robin.

...here and gone...

the first photo

is

saturday morning...

the second

is Sunday

afternoon.

yesterday the trees

were raining

leaves...

then the wind

picked up.

what was glorious on saturday

did not make

it to Sunday eve.

ahh...Michigan.

just BE.

robin.

...10.18.09...

"there is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in october." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

fall images

this

weekend.

welcome to coffee hour.

welcome to this Sunday morning.

just BE.

robin.

...partnership...

weathered wood

colored gray

textured rough

and lichen

when lichen exists that

means that it is

two or more organisms living together

such that both are more successful

within the partnership

than they would have been

if they were living on their own...

me + nature

me + photography

me + light

me + laughter

me + love

me + you

equals

a successful partnership with life.

light + objects = shadows

find those partnered with

HEY HARRIET

what will you partner with today?

just BE.

robin.

...soul's changes...

“these are the soul's changes.

i don't believe in aging.

i believe in

forever

altering

one's

aspect

to

the

sun.

hence my optimism.”

~Virginia Woolf

just BE.

robin.

...10.11.09...

it's always something.

~roseanne roseannadanna (gilda radner)

and, of course, it is. sometimes it's a darn nuisance. sometimes it's soul shattering.

but it's always something. it's real life.

after gilda radner left saturday night live where she created some unforgettable, funny women characters--roseanne roseannadanna, emily litella--she set out to create a life for herself. for a decade she had been a successful workaholic as life whizzed by. falling in love with gene wilder helped her realize the pleasure of lowering gears. by the time they married in 1984, she wanted to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. always observant and knowing rich material when she found it, she began a book called portrait of the artist as a housewife, a collection of stories, poems, and vignettes celebrating domesticity and the humor inherent in toaster ovens and plumbers. it would have been hilarious.

but real life grabbed her attention with a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and a grittier book emerged, it's always something, a defiantly irreverent, moving memoir. like other women who struggle with life-threatening illness, gilda mourned "my lost joy, my happiness, my exhilaration with life." the day before her diagnosis, life stretched before her, luminous in it's limitless possibilities. the moment after being told she had cancer, life's dimensions shrank to twenty-four-hour stretches.

in a moving essay contained in minding the body: women writers on body and soul, judy hooper rightly admonishes us: "we go around thinking that real life is about adding a rec room to the basement, but this is not about real life. cancer is real life. when we accept cancer, it is as if new systems within the organism automatically open--like the oxygen masks and flotation systems that automatically drop in your lap on a 747 in an emergency. when you walk this earth on borrowed time, each day on the calendar is a beloved friend you know for only a short time."

you begin to live.

why must we find a lump in our breast before this occurs? do you know? because i certainly don't. but i do know a wonderful woman who was very active at her children's school for many years, largely because after she had volunteered a generous amount of personal time, no one else came forward to take her place. the hours she put into her PTA related work were the equivalent of a full-time but unpaid second job. when she made the terrible discovery that she had breast cancer, she admitted to close friends that in a strange way, she was relieved. cancer meant she could start saying "no," create boundaries, and finally put down the school committee burden without guilt. now she could ransom back her life. after all, no one expects a woman fighting breast cancer to anything but take care of herself. of course, she was right.

when i heard this story i wanted to scream and cry: it was almost too much to take in. yes, it's always something. but it doesn't always have to have your name on it. i pray we never find a lump, but i pray just a fervently that we never squander or surrender another precious day for whatever reason.

and if you've already found a lump, i pray that you'll grow whole and old in joy, peace, and grace, gifting us for many years with your wisdom.

heaven knows, we need it.

~simple abundance: a daybook of comfort and joy.

in my decision to try and

just BE.

this year.

this is what i want for myself.

not to have to feel guilty

when i say no.

not to feel guilty

when i take time for myself.

to not let bad people and money problems

take over my life.

i want

to just enjoy life,

everyday,

in some small way.

october is

breast cancer awareness month.

my wish for me

and for you

is to take a hold of your life

and live it.

live it real.

on your terms...not cancer's...

or anybody else's terms.

just you.

welcome to coffee hour.

welcome to this Sunday morning.

just BE.

robin.

...say it isn't so...

...what a great morning...it'll be a great day for football this afternoon!!!

...number 12 matthew goodenow with the carry...

what's this?

you guessed it!!!! it's snow!!!! big sigh!!!

game was watched from the car!!

bucks win 13-0 despite the snow.

just BE.

robin.

...shadows...

Trust that little voice in your head that says "Wouldn't it be interesting if.."; And then do it. ~Duane Michals

...if you find yourself stuck, frozen where you stand...use your imagination...

imagination is the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses.

imagination is, in general, the power or process of producing mental images and ideas.

the term is technically used in psychology for the process of reviving in the mind percepts of objects formerly given in sense perception.

it is the ability to represent objects or states of affairs which cannot exist, which do not exist or which do not exist here and now.

imagination is both condemned for its link with falsity and prized for its role in artistic creativity and human understanding. ~from best-quotes-poems.com

imagination.

it is a wonderful gift.

it's what makes me

crawl across a frosted ground

to capture the shadow of

grass behind a leaf.

"wouldn't it be interesting if..."

head to HEY HARRIET for more SSS.

"wouldn't it be interesting if..."

how would

you finish that sentence.

just BE.

robin.

...cool color chart?...

the

trees

are

having

their

colors

done.

and

then

they

are

floating

gently

to

the ground.

just BE.

robin.